Movie Plot – Zack Snyder’s Justice League: Zack Snyder’s definitive director’s cut of Justice League. Determined to ensure Superman’s ultimate sacrifice was not in vain, Bruce Wayne joins forces with Diana Prince with plans to recruit a team of metahumans to protect the world from an impending threat of catastrophic proportions.

Director: Zack Snyder
Writers: Chris Terrio, Zack Snyder, Will Beall
Cast: Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher, Amy Adams

Low Expectations

When I heard the Snyder Cut announcement, I was pretty excited. However, I was skeptical as I didn’t have much faith in it. I thought that the Justice League film of 2017 was very mediocre. You could definitely see that it was a mixture of Josh Weadon and Zack Snyder’s vision. In addition, I couldn’t see how Zack could have improved this movie back then. The film had an uninteresting villain, some heroes were disappointing, and I didn’t care for the story. On top of that, the casting announcements made me worried as I was afraid that it would be overcrowded. 

I’m glad I was so wrong. The movie was much better than I expected. It has even become my 2nd favorite DCEU movie. The first place goes to Man of Steel. On top of that, I literally never was bored during the entire four hours. It’s a great gift to DC fans who were waiting on this movie for a long time. It’s still an unbelievable achievement.

One of my biggest frustrations before the movie came out was that I felt like his so-Snyder cut would be a totally different movie. The trailers often showed Darkseid as the villain. Yet this is a bit misleading, and I was wrong in my frustrations. In a big way, this is still the same movie, but somehow different. It is still about Steppenwolf trying to find the mother boxes. Darkseid actually serves as a set-up for future filming. However, it’s the storytelling and character development that are a massive improvement.

Understanding the characters

In my opinion, Zack Snyder does not fully understand DC’s characters, especially when it comes to Batman. You hear stories where he talked about the idea where Lois Lane falls in love with Bruce Wayne. And I’m all like, “What? Please, no!”

Whenever I had watched Batman vs. Superman, I hated to see Batman kill people. Him not killing people is his golden rule, and what makes this character so unique. However, I do understand it’s hard to get someone like Batman in a world with an alien invasion. It’s impossible just to knock out all his villains. So I understand why he has to be a killing Batman. This time I just accepted the fact that he’s a very aggressive superhero.

Moreover, Batman is called the greatest detective, but somehow I feel this title is lacking. It’s like his only skill is fighting with gadgets. There are also some miscast like Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor. I’m still not sure how I should feel about Jared Leto’s Joker. I know a lot of people are satisfied with him. Even Ezra Miller feels more like a Wally West than a Barry Allen.

More backstory

I remember Ray Fished being angry at Josh Weadon, and that’s where the accusations of Wheadon started. At first, I wasn’t sure about his accusations. However, when Warner Bros “threatened” Ray Fisher, Jason Momoa stepped in. That’s when I believed Ray might have been right. I mean, if two actors are backing each other up, that means something isn’t right. From that moment on, they started an investigation.

Now that I’ve seen the Justice League movie of Zack Snyder, I can’t believe how Ray Fisher got robbed. Everyone would have been mad in his stead. He was supposed to be the heart of the movie. He was well developed in the Snyder Verse, and the 2017 cut just threw that away. This time they showed how powerful he could be.

Flash is also a significant improvement in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. In the 2017 version, he was too over-the-top, and I didn’t know how to feel about Ezra as the beloved speedster. In this version, he’s actually quite funny as he is still supposed to be. However, I already mentioned he feels more like a Wally West. All in all, this version worked really well and didn’t feel out of place. He also gets his moment to shine.

Aquaman also gets some additional scenes, and one of them is a very incredible fighting scene. It was fascinating to see him fight underwater. Even Mera was badass in these scenes. Zack also removed the silly scene where he was randomly talking trash about everyone on the plane. Yeah, that was definitely a Josh Weadon scene.

One villain I thought Zack couldn’t fix was Steppenwolf. Oh my god, I was wrong again. Zack Snyder gave him a reason why he was on earth, and as an audience, you understand why he’s here. It’s just more fleshed out, and everything makes more sense. Even his design is way better and is really threatening. He was a true badass.

R-rated action scenes

Of course, the action scenes were longer, as Zack can make his movie longer. It really pays off well and makes the four-hour movie more balanced. You get more story, but when the action happens, you also get some more of that. It feels like compensation for the extended backstories. Not only is it longer, but it’s also more violent.

The scenes in Themyscira were extraordinary. It had one of the best chasing scenes. The scenes we saw in the theatrical cut mainly were from Zack, but they were also the scenes I enjoyed. Now, it’s just extra-long and once again more violent.

One of my biggest dislikes about Zack Snyder’s directing is the use of slow-motion. Sure it can be visually beautiful. However, he uses it way too much. Just tone it down a bit.

The last part where the Justice League fights Steppenwolf is totally different. It’s still in the same town. However, they tell you why he chose that spot. Moreover, there is no one living there. So that means no useless Russian family that Flash needs to save. No, thankfully, that’s all gone now. On top of that, Flash had really a great moment, and I don’t understand why Josh Weadon left that out of the movie. I’m just like: why? It’s so awesome. And last but not least, Superman has a black suit now that looked fantastic.

I need more

At the end of the movie, you actually get some additional scenes. It’s mostly about the “dream sequence,” which is more like a futuristic scene. That scene raised so many questions about what is going to happen. Well, what Zack intended to do with future installments if given a chance to do it. However, I’m not sure if I’m going to love his ideas.

My first thought went to the Injustice Story Arc, where Superman is the villain and the world’s dictator. Even if I’m not sure if I would like it, I still consider it to be an alternate universe. They even reference the multiverse in the movie, so let’s consider this the Snyder verse. You can always perfectly combine it with the current DCEU timeline.

This scene is also where you get to see the Joker. However, I’m still very unsure of how I should feel about him. Somehow it doesn’t feel right to me, but for others, he does.

Conclusion

I am so glad that Zack Snyder’s Justice League filled all the broken points of the 2017 version. Zack Snyder just gave us the dark DC tone and no silly unnecessary Batman jokes. It’s a four-hour film with fascinating visuals and storytelling. This is the Justice League movie we deserve.

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